Displayed in rows near the bank of the Red Cedar River, 2,977 miniature American flags stood in the drizzling rain early Monday morning — each flag for someone who died during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
"Five years after the fact, people can start to forget," said Anna Marie Cooper, vice chairperson for the MSU College Republicans. "We want to make sure that doesn't happen."
Members of the student group spent nearly the entire night preparing the memorial by displaying flags and painting "9-11 Never Forget" on the rock on Farm Lane.
Although some members of the College Republicans didn't have personal ties to victims of the terrorist attacks, many said they felt the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York were their generation's great tragedy.
Political theory and constitutional democracy freshman Priti Kothari said her memories of Sept. 11 are still powerful.
"I remember the exact moment in time when I was sitting in my eighth-grade history class," she said. "When I saw President Bush and (former New York Mayor Rudolph) Giuliani give their speeches, it brought tears to my eyes."
Republican candidate Mike Bouchard, who is running against Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow for one of Michigan's two U.S. Senate seats, also made an appearance and spoke at the memorial.
"It was moving — all those young people there and involved with painting the rock and all the flags there," he said after the memorial. "They took the time out of their lives to stay up literally all night to paint their rock and stand in the rain to honor those people."
Bouchard, currently Oakland County Sheriff, recalled when he went to ground zero with several police personnel from his county the day after the twin towers were destroyed.
"Just the thought of that day brings the grimmest memories," Bouchard said.
College Republicans Chairman Jeff Wiggins said he hoped the memorial would serve as a comfort to the families of the victims who died that day.
"They were just at work. … It should be a day of remembrance for everyone," he said.
